'Mulaney' episode #9 review: 'Worlds Collide'

By now, its absolutely futile to keep hope in Fox's Mulaney, a show so buried in the sands of mediocrity that all one can do now is let go.

John Mulaney is going to go on make and collaborate in great things, and already has before this, and the thought of what he is going to create beyond this speed-bump is much more interesting and engaging than his first show. If nothing else, he's always got a stand-up career to fall back on. I'm sure this show is going to create some great material too. But before he can get to that, let's talk about his latest misfired attempt at basic cable, multi-camera studio sitcom comedy "Worlds Collide."

Oddly enough, during John's traditional stand-up opening this week, the comedian actually broke the fourth wall for the first time to address the crowd as the audience of his upcoming TV installment. In the middle of his set, he unexpectedly announces, "On tonight's show, a woman comes between two men," before going back into his bit, which include an actually decent joke about Yoko Ono — which is probably something no one has said in 15 years. Perhaps he did this before, and they were merely edited out, but this is the first time Mulaney has admitted that his stand-up bits are, indeed, supposed to be precursors to his television program, and not just another way he tried ripping off Seinfeld. It's refreshing, if just slightly, to see him not only doing original stand-up — even if it's tamed down and super filtered — but to actually explain why he does these segments that, before, seemed like giant time-fillers.

Don't get me wrong, there still time wasters. But at least they have a point in John's eyes. From there on, however, it's the same old-same old. Tired tropes, washed down storylines, generic punchlines, stale pop culture references, the works. But there is, at least, one other reveal this week: Jane (Nasim Pedrad) is actually a fitness trainer by trade. Which, of course, leads to this week's plot of her getting in the middle of John's working relationship with his boss Lou Cannon (Martin Short) once he hires her to make her laugh then spoil her richly. Although John's description of the episode would have you believe this was something of a romantic triangle, there's no double thinking or secret intentions —a point made repeatedly throughout this installment — which, at least, offers the mildest bit of originality from Karey Dornetto's teleplay.

There are a couple quick laughs here and there this week. One joke Motif (Seaton Smith) makes early on about Girls is surprisingly pretty decent, and I actually got a good laugh at one joke, before realizing I misunderstood one character's description of himself as Robin Williams when he actually said Robin Hood. But after that, it's nothing. Even an unexpected cameo from a late-90s SNL alum can't make this week's episode work. In fact, throughout "Worlds Collide," the expression I carried on my face was the same as the one on Jane's when trying to process Lou Cannon's poor jokes.

With one plot centered on a character trying to pretend a comedy legend is being funny, and another struggling to find funny characters from their lives to bring to their work — the latter being Motif's subplot this week — "Worlds Collide" may be the most unintentionally autobiographic episode of Mulaney to date. Its got a wonderful cast — plus Martin Short was recently so wonderful in Inherent Vice, basically proving everything mean I said about him wrong of late, and its got a good team of writers. It also has a lead actor and show creator not only charmingly loving his peers, but willing and so badly wanting to make something great.

Nothing clicks here, though. When Fox ultimately pulls the plug on this show and replaces it with Will Forte's upcoming Last Man on Earth, it will be for the best, sadly.

Image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com

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